(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) will work with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) to develop environmentally friendly biofuels. Through its Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), A*Star will explore with EADS the possibility of developing algae into a fuel source for aircraft....
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — Shell has announced that major construction activities at its 800,000-tonne-per-year ethylene cracker complex in Singapore have been completed and that commissioning work is underway to start up the plant. The new cracker is an integral component of the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC) and will be the second new...
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — State-owned groups China Everbright Group and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are increasing their biofuel investment in different parts of the country. China Everbright Group said it will begin construction of bioenergy plants in Dangshan County in eastern Anhui province through its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary China Everbright International...
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — US cleantech consulting firm Pike Research has predicted that the coming wave of innovation will boost the value of the world biodiesel market from $18.4 billion in 2010 to $71 billion a decade later. The Boulder, Colorado company said the market will benefit from innovations in feedstocks such as...
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — The Canadian government is looking to cash-rich Asian firms for energy investments as the US government and firms begin to shun the ‘dirty’ oil produced from the oilsands mines of Alberta province. Late last year, China and South Korea each won approval for their acquisitions of stakes in two...
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation said it has developed the world’s first technology to maximise output power in photovoltaic (PV) systems by incorporating a new maximum power-point tracking (MPPT) system in PV inverters. The technology, which works with a single PV inverter, achieves the maximum power point even when part...
(EnergyAsia, March 5 2010, Friday) — Australia’s Arrow Energy Limited (ASX:AOE, Arrow) said it has agreed with Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG, LNG Ltd) to acquire the entire Fisherman’s Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and associated infrastructure through the acquisition of LNG Ltd subsidiary Gladstone LNG Pty Ltd (GLNG). This agreement superseded the previously...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Limited said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE), is sponsoring the listing of units of a business trust known as K-Green Trust (KGT) on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX). Keppel is proposing a dividend in specie of approximately 50.5% of the...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — Singapore-listed Rotary Engineering Limited has reported its highest-ever net profit of S$54.2 million on record revenues of S$551.9 million for the financial year ending December 31 2009. (US$1=S$1.4). Its net profit grew 7% from S$50.9 million the previous year, while its revenues rose 6% from $520.1 million previously. The...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — China Hydroelectric Corporation (CHC), a consolidator, developer and operator of small hydroelectric power projects in China, said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 44 megawatt (MW) operating hydroelectric project in Yunnan province. The company added that it has also entered into memoranda of understandings (MOUs) to...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — The government of Japan has pledged a total of $100 million to fund two new climate programmes to support forest management and renewable energy investments in developing countries, said the World Bank. Tokyo pledged $40 million just before the meeting of the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — Singapore’s Sembcorp last month celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for its US$1 billion Salalah Independent Water and Power Plant (Salalah IWPP) in Oman. Due to begin full commercial operations in the first half of 2012, the Salalah IWPP will consist of a gas-fired power plant which will have a net...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) —Toshiba International Corporation (TIC), a unit of the Japanese electronics giant, said it and Mitsui & Co Plant Systems Ltd will jointly supply three 324MVA hydro power generators to Isagen SA ESP, a leading Colombian power generation company. The generators will be installed at the Sogamoso hydro power plant in...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2010, Thursday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation said it has achieved a very high photoelectric conversion efficiency of 14.8% in a 5mm x 5mm thin-film silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell. The thin-film silicon PV cell developed by Mitsubishi Electric has a triple junction structure that utilises a majority of the solar spectrum for...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corp said it has secured its third waste-to-energy contract in China this year, bringing its 2010 order book for WTE technology sales in China to S$86.7 million. (US$1=S$1.4). In the latest award, Keppel Seghers Belgium NV, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE), won...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Boosted by interest from Asia, Canada’s oilsands industry expects to see an upturn in their fortunes this year after surviving the slump of 2009. Pat Nelson, vice-chairwoman of the In Situ Oil Sands Alliance, believes that 2010 may be the year that in situ projects take off, with production...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Hong Kong has begun producing and using solar energy-generated electricity with the recent successful start-up of the first phase of CLP’s Town Island Renewable Energy Power Station. The Town Island power project, which marked the historic use of powering with renewable energy, is being implemented in two phases. CLP...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Heartened by rising oil prices, investors have announced in recent months that they will commit a total of at least $20 billion into developing oilsands projects in Canada. Most of the projects were earlier shelved when oil prices plunged from a peak of $147 a barrel in July 2008...
The two Spanish plants will have up to 7.5 hours of thermal storage capacity and will provide clean and safe energy for 80,000 homes and prevent 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year (EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Masdar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company,...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Oilsands developments should not be solely to blame for Canada’s poor record on greenhouse gas emissions, and a holistic approach is needed to address the problem, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada. The report “Getting the Balance Right: The Oil Sands, Exporting and Sustainability” said...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and Deutsche Bank recently launched the DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund, raising $265 million at its first closing. The fund brings together the sector knowledge and scope of the Masdar Initiatives with the global asset management and research capabilities of Deutsche Bank. Co-managed by Masdar Venture...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The following article was written by Fawzia Sheikh of Oilprice.com. While the Iraqi government has made vertures to its Kurdish counterpart in the north to end an oil standoff, much remains in doubt without an actual law keeping the industry in check – rules which this time the Kurds...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — Bahrain’s First Energy Bank (FEB) said it and its partner will jointly invest US$1 billion to build a “world class” polysilicon production plant with a partner in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail city to promote the production and use of solar energy in the Middle East. The project, located on a...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The Singapore government is fine-tuning its strategy to develop a “smart energy economy” to achieve energy resilience and sustainable growth amid a variety of challenges including rising global demand, volatile prices, climate change and security concerns. In response to the vastly changed global energy landscape, the energy sub-committee...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The US and Chinese governments have announced a joint initiative to promote low-carbon development for non-government cooperation projects. The National Center For Sustainable Development (NCSD), headquartered in Washington, DC initiated a groundbreaking commitment to launch the China-U.S. Low Carbon Development Cooperation Program – exemplifying its expanded new mission objective...